Whoever the jaguar was, he hesitated to fight the wolves. His heart was pounding, and Howard figured he was probably shocked to see the wolves in the rain forest, if he hadn’t been forewarned they were working with the jaguar policing force. Or even if the jaguar had known about them, he’d been unprepared to see them out here, roaming through the woods.
For a moment, Howard wondered if the big cat was all jaguar and not a shifter. But then the jaguar jumped to take down Vaughn, the bigger of the two wolves. Howard leaped out of the shadows of the trees and swiped at the jaguar’s head, killing him with one blow. The jaguar dropped to the forest floor, dead, and shifted into a naked man, but no one they recognized. Val remained hidden in the shadows as backup in case someone else attacked. Howard quickly grabbed hold of the dead man’s arm and dragged him to the river. One down, but how many more did they have to deal with?
The wolves followed him, serving as his backup now, and Val stayed out of sight, but Howard knew she would be watching for trouble. He wondered if this guy had been a scout, looking to see what the situation was with them. Or maybe there were others here too, and they were prowling separately through the rain forest toward the cabins and getting into position before they struck.
So far so good as Howard dragged the man to the river, no sign of humans wandering about as the sun began to set. No sign of anyone else, though jaguars could be so elusive that even Howard might miss seeing them. He suspected the jaguars didn’t have hunter’s spray down here, not believing they’d have trouble with the Enforcers or other jaguar agents. They were wrong.
He pulled the man into the water and released him, then swam back to shore. The wolves waited a moment, observing him and the dead man floating away. Both Vaughn and Jillian turned and resumed the search for prey.
When Howard had first started to work with them in their shifter coats, he wasn’t sure they could all communicate well enough to coordinate tactics on the fly. But they were good at their jobs and everyone worked together to bring out the best outcome they could, given the situations they encountered.
A strangled cat cry was muffled before it could travel far in the noisy rain forest. It came from the direction where Val had been. Heart racing, Howard ran toward it. His teammates followed. When they reached Val, she was panting hard, blood staining the fur around her mouth, and a dead, naked man lay at her front paws. Damn glad she was fine, Howard nuzzled her face with affection, and she returned the love.
The guy wasn’t Benny or Eric either, but he was a shifter, and like the other dead man, Eric’s scent was on him. A handshake or a slap on the back would have been enough to leave his scent on the men.
Val took hold of the man’s arm and was about to drag him to the river—her kill, her situation to deal with—but Howard shook his head at her. He was stronger and could move the man faster. He needed her to stay and protect the wolves.
As before, they followed him to watch his back. Val remained hidden among the trees, a silent predator waiting to terminate the next shifter that showed himself.
Howard wondered if Eric had sent two men to scout out the situation or if the whole gang was out here. At least the number of men working for him was dwindling.
The sun was beginning to descend, the clouds growing darker, the shadows of the forest deepening when they heard the sound of a car driving toward their cabins. The timing was about right for the Andersons’ arrival. On the other hand, maybe the car belonged to Eric or his men.
Howard met up with Vaughn and Jillian. Their ears were perked, twisting, listening, their tails straight out behind them. Then they raced toward the cabins. Howard glanced around for Val, but she remained hidden from view. He took off after his other teammates to protect them.
When he reached sight of Val’s cabin, he saw the driver and passenger doors on the car were open, no sign of anyone. Vaughn and Jillian split up to smell the scents on the car. They both woofed softly at Howard, telling him it was Everett and Demetria’s vehicle. They hadn’t gotten a taxi, maybe worried the taxi driver would see a jaguar ambush. Howard and the wolves followed their scents because their teammates had moved into the rain forest.
A few minutes had passed when cat snarls from three different directions pierced the darkening forest. Howard ran in the direction that was closest to where he’d last seen Val. Vaughn and Jillian raced toward the other cat cries. Howard was almost to Val’s location when a jaguar jumped out of a tree, slamming into him and taking him down.
* * *
Val had killed the jaguar who had made the mistake of prowling beneath the tree she’d been sitting in while watching her teammates checking out the car. She knew Howard and the others hadn’t needed her there too. She suspected Eric, Benny, or their henchmen would make a move to check out the car, and she had been ready for them.
She didn’t think they could have many more people left.
Then she saw Howard coming for her and no wolves in sight. She was worried about them when a jaguar she hadn’t seen hidden in a tree pounced on Howard as he approached her.
Her heart in her throat, Val leaped over the man she’d killed, desperate to save her mate. Howard was lying on the ground, stunned. The attacking jaguar had been primed to kill her mate but turned his wrath on her instead. She snarled and struck with lightning-fast paws, claws extended, biting and thrashing like a wild cat. She wasn’t exactly using a jaguar’s killing form, she was so angry and wound up. This was her prey—Benny Canton. He was a dead man. And she was relentless. She thought she surprised the big male cat, who couldn’t win against her constant battering and biting him.
She prayed Howard would come out of his stupor, but in the meantime, she was killing this bastard before he could hurt anyone else.
Benny was bloodied and so was she, the iron scent and taste of it compelling her to finish him. He’d clawed and bitten her, but she attacked him with such ferocity that she could see he was wearing down, his paws batting at her less effectively, his bites more glancing than penetrating.
Someone was coming, but she didn’t take her focus off the threat in front of her. Benny turned to look though. Afraid another male, a stronger opponent, was ready to attack him from behind?
Benny was a fool to take his eyes off her. She took advantage of his distraction and bit down on his skull, killing him instantly. He fell to the forest floor and shifted into his human form, dead. That’s when she saw who was coming. Her heart nearly stopped. The jaguar wasn’t one of her own teammates, as she’d hoped, and the wind sending his scent proved the jaguar was Eric.
And damn him, he ran straight for Howard, who was still looking dazed and trying to get to his feet. She knew Eric wanted to get rid of the bigger male threat first, easily, before Howard could be a threat.
As if she didn’t count!
She tore into the jaguar, feeling as though she was on catnip steroids, feeling no pain, white-hot rage filling her veins. No one attacked her mate without paying the consequences.
But Eric was just as relentless as she’d been with Benny, trying to hit her with his paws, trying to knock her out or kill her outright. She was having to dodge more than attack him, trying to keep out of his killer’s reach. He hadn’t been fighting, no blood staining his coat, so he was fresh. She was panting, her heart beating wildly, tension filling every pore, her muscles taut.
She leaped into a tree, and he followed her. She jumped to another branch, and he leaped to the same one. She meant to move away from where Howard was so Eric would follow her and give Howard time to recover.
Val prayed Howard wasn’t permanently injured and would regain his wits soon. If she didn’t manage to kill this SOB, both she and Howard would be at risk. She backed away from Eric on the thick limb. He moved toward her, his eyes gleaming with threats. Before she ran out of room, she leaped for the ground. It was a mistake, and she knew it was from the moment she’d started the descent. As soon as she landed on the ground, he’d pounce on her like Benny had pounced on Howard.
She hit the ground and immediately leaped away from the spot where she’d landed to avoid being pummeled, but Howard was no longer barely standing in his stunned state where he’d been. And Eric hadn’t followed her to attack her. She whipped around to see Howard in the tree crouched low on the branch near Eric’s, his gaze focused on him. Eric had turned to face his new foe. Her beautiful mate.
Val jumped back onto the branch behind Eric. He ignored her, conscious of the bigger threat in front of him. Worried Howard wasn’t ready to tackle the male cat in his condition, she would take Eric on. She’d do anything to save her mate. Like Eric, Howard didn’t glance in her direction, his focus solely on the male cat.
Eric’s tail was twitching slightly, and she made the decision to attack him, hoping Howard was able to follow through and take Eric out if she wasn’t able to. She was afraid if Eric pounced on Howard, her mate might not have recovered enough to fight him back and win. She leaped on Eric’s back, digging her fishhook claws into his flanks. He tried to turn and strike at her, but the branch wasn’t wide enough. She tenaciously clung to him and realized she had the advantage. At least for the moment. She couldn’t take him out with a killing bite from her position, and he suddenly jumped from the branch toward the ground with her still holding tight to him. She knew he’d kill her as soon as they were on the ground.
* * *
Seeing double, a jackhammer pounding in his head, Howard could barely see or think straight. All he knew was that his mate was desperately trying to protect him from Eric and take him down, and Howard had to snap out of his disoriented state now. If he jumped at Eric on the other branch and missed, the bastard would kill Val. Howard was trying his damnedest to see more clearly and make the jump as two Vals clung to two of Eric, biting him as best she could when Eric leaped from the tree toward the ground, taking Val with him.
As soon as he saw the jaguars on the ground, Howard jumped from the branch, landing on Eric’s head and breaking his neck. At least that’s what he thought happened when he heard the crack of the spine and suddenly two dead, naked Erics were lying beneath him.
Howard turned to make sure both Vals were okay. She nuzzled him, rubbing him as if she was feeling no pain, tears running down her jaguar cheeks. As much as she was bleeding, he knew she was feeling pain. He licked her face and nuzzled her back, wanting to assure her that he was okay. They had to be prepared for the next onslaught, but he was damn glad they were here as a team. He was worrying how the others were faring when he heard Vaughn howl.
Jillian howled back, letting her mate know she was alive and well.
If Howard had been up to speed, he would have raced off to join the others, but he could picture himself running into trees, so he just waited with Val to see what she wanted to do. She stayed put, listening, watching, waiting. He sat down, hoping some of the dizziness would subside. It didn’t, and he felt as though he’d had way too much to drink during a celebration with friends.
Then movement to the west caught their attention. Another male jaguar, not one of their own. Val waited for him to approach. Howard was damn glad. Let the bastard come to them. The jaguar had no blood on him, and he was in top form. It appeared he’d come late to the party and missed out on any of the fighting. He was sizing them up, a male and female jaguar.
The jaguar looked down at Eric’s body. Did he assume he could take the two of them on? Or think better of it since they’d terminated Eric?
The jaguar didn’t run off, so he must have figured they couldn’t manage him. That something was wrong with Howard for not coming after him. He didn’t have long to wait. Everett and Demetria were leading the pack, the wolves right behind them, as they came to join them. Everett and Demetria tore into the lone jaguar, and once he was dead, Jillian hurried to join Howard and Val. She was bloodied too, like all of them were.
Jillian shifted. “Vaughn and I are serving as guards in case there are any more of them out there. We’re disposing of the bodies now.”
Howard planned to shift and talk to her, but as soon as he tried, his head splintered in two and his world turned to midnight.
* * *
“As wolves, I thought we fought hard,” Jillian said as they all sat in Val’s cabin having margaritas, though Howard was only drinking water after Val had brought him home from the hospital.
“Yeah, the jaguars are brutal,” Vaughn said.
Everybody was wearing bandages and looking like they’d been in a battle for their lives, which they had been. Val was curled up next to her mate, who was no longer seeing double, which she was glad for, but she still worried about him.
“I say Val and Howard get top honors for taking out Eric and Benny.” Everett saluted them.
Everyone agreed. Though if the others hadn’t been there to take out Eric’s other henchmen, they wouldn’t be sitting here to talk about it.
“Damn glad the two of you showed up,” Howard said. “It was bad enough I was seeing two of Eric. Two of Val was fine.”
Val smiled up at him and kissed his cheek.
Everyone chuckled.
“Okay, so what happened with the rest of Eric’s men?” Val asked. She and Howard didn’t know how many more they’d taken down. She had taken Howard straight to the hospital while the others had disposed of the bodies.
“There were four others, all jaguar shifters, and I smelled weed on one of them,” Everett said. “We worked well together, the wolves acting as bait and confusing the issue, and Demetria and me taking the jaguars out before they could fight us too much. Not that Jillian and Vaughn didn’t get in a whole lot of bites too.”
Jillian and Vaughn smiled.
Val knew the cats they fought had given them a real workout, as evidenced by all the bites and claw injuries they had. She was glad they had prevailed and hadn’t needed her and Howard’s assistance in taking the others down. She loved how they teamed up to work together.
“When you were in the exam room with Howard, having him checked out, Jillian called your parents to tell them we’d taken down all the bad guys, Val. Vaughn called Emmie, I called Rowdy, and Demetria called Izzie with the good news. Everyone is grateful,” Everett said. “I called both Sylvan and Martin to let them know the good news. And the best news? Martin’s giving us two weeks to play in the surf down here. Of course, he said if we learn there are any loose ends running around down here—part of Eric’s drug network—we’re to take them out if they’re jaguars or turn them over to the police if they’re humans. That’s part of the reason he’s giving us the extra time off, all expenses paid. But two weeks, folks! Martin never gives us that long of a break. We have Howard to thank for that.”
Val patted Howard’s leg. “I wasn’t sure if you could help me out there at the end.”
“I was afraid to jump at Eric and miss the branch.”
Everyone laughed. The notion a jaguar couldn’t jump from one branch to another was unthinkable, though Howard had had good reason. She’d wondered why he hadn’t made his move.
“You know, the boss is going to want you to train agents on how to do that,” Everett said.
“Do what?” Howard frowned.
“Take down a cat in a tree when you are seeing two of them. That takes some special maneuvering.” Everett smiled at him.
Val loved how the team members supported and teased each other in a way that made the fighting take a back seat to the whole mission.
“I had a wild cat taking the brunt of it,” Howard said, draping his arm carefully over Val’s shoulders. “She was amazing.”
“I was only keeping him occupied until you could take him down. Without you? I would never have won that battle.” Val still couldn’t shake loose the image of poor Howard standing on the ground looking dazed, or in the tree looking mean and growly, but not taking any action.
“Which is why we do things as a team.” Demetria poured everyone fresh margaritas from a pitcher.
“Two weeks of fun in the sun,” Jillian said.
“Just remember, before we leave, we have to drop by a grocery store and pick up some wangla for our boss,” Everett said.
Val raised her brows.
“Yeah, I know. When I heard about it, I didn’t believe it, but he tells all his agents if they end up in Belize, they have to bring him back the brittle sesame seed candy,” Demetria said.
Instead of one package, they each got him several, their mission done, and all of them had a great time in their jaguar paradise over the next two weeks. But now it was time to return home to Houston and set up new housekeeping for Val and Howard and plan a wedding.